Politics
APC, PDP Kick As NASS Approves Direct Primaries
Both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have expressed reservations about the decision by the National Assembly to mandate political parties to adopt direct primaries in selecting candidates for election in the Electoral Act Amendment bill it passed yesterday.
Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi and chairman, Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), said that adopting direct primaries by political parties would overstretch the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said this while speaking with newsmen at the end of a closed-door meeting held by members of the PGF on Monday night.
The PGF is an umbrella body of serving governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The National Assembly has adopted Section 87 on mandatory direct primaries for all parties.
Bagudu said the decision by INEC to make it mandatory for political parties to elect their candidates for elective positions through direct primaries could be undemocratic.
He said the Forum discussed problems associated with direct primaries, noting that there had been concerns that political parties were voluntary organisations.
The governor said the concern of the governors is that if you limit the abilities of parties to choose options that they so desired, “that may even be arguably undemocratic”.
He explained that this was because nothing stops one party from adopting one or the other.
The PGF chairman said the meeting, among other things, reviewed developments in the polity and in the APC states especially, as well as the party’s membership registration and the congresses that had successfully been conducted.
The chairman appreciated the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) for the success of the congresses, for supporting APC states and for taking steps to resolve issues wherever they arose.
“In particular, the governors were appreciative of the CECPC because of its respect for President Muhammadu Buhari’s expectations that they should support the party bottom-up, and I think that had been achieved in the last exercise.
“Equally, we reviewed the congresses and advised on how we think it should strengthen our democracy,” he said, noting that the party’s planned National Convention was in progress.
He described as a big milestone the just-concluded APC state congresses, saying that the appeals processes had also been conducted.
“I believe that, soon, the party will inaugurate all the state executives, and then some of the outstanding congresses that are to take place in Zamfara and Oyo states and three other states will be concluded.
“Then we are on our way to setting a date for the National Convention,” he said.
Present at the meeting were governors of Nasarawa, Kano, Kebbi, Ekiti, Plateau, Yobe, Kogi, Ebonyi, Gombe and Osun states, while Lagos and Ondo state governors were represented by their deputies.
Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the direct primary system for nomination of candidates for elections by political parties recently passed by the National Assembly.
The national publicity secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, while reacting to the issue of mandatory direct primaries said: “Our party holds that it is the inalienable right of each political party, within the context of our constitutional democracy, to decide its form of internal democratic practices, including the processes of nominating its candidates for elections at any level.
He added that no political party should force its own processes on any other political party, as the direct primaries’ amendment, a practice of the ruling APC, sought to achieve.
“Having stated this, the PDP shall, within the next 48 hours, make its final decision in respect of this amendment.”
This came as the National Assembly yesterday passed the harmonised version of the 2021 Electoral Act Amendment Bill, approving direct primary elections for political parties and also gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the nod for electronic voting and electronic transmission of election results.
With this, the National Assembly has laid to rest the vexed issue of the mode of primaries to be adopted by the various political parties for the emergence of their candidates in the 2023 general election.
It also, as contained in clause 52 of the 2010 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 earlier recommended by the Senate, gave INEC approval for the usage of technological/electronic devices in the conduct of elections and transmission of results.
Concurrence to this effect by both chambers of the National Assembly followed adoption of a report of Conference Committees set up by the Senate and the House of Representatives in July this year by the Senate in plenary on Tuesday.
A total of 21 clauses as presented by the leader of the Senate Committee on Harmonisation, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi ( APC, Kebbi North) , were harmonised by either adopting the one earlier adopted by the Senate or House of Representatives .
Yahaya Abdullahi in presenting the report said: “The objective of the Conference Committee was a reconciliation of the differences in a few clauses of the bill as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“The clauses are 1, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 31, 36, 43, 49, 50, 52, 63, 76, 87, 97, 98, 117 and 135
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has renamed The Polytechnic, Ibadan as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan, in honour of a late former governor of the State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo.
Dr Olunloyo, who died on April 6, 2025, was the pioneer Principal of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, while he also served as Governor of Oyo State between October 1 and December 31, 1983.
Governor Makinde made the announcement at the state interdenominational funeral service held yesterday in honour of the late former governor at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Liberty Road, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde said Dr Olunloyo lived an eventful life, adding that his attainment and personality could not be summarised in one sentence.
“He was not a man we could summarise in one sentence. He was a scholar, a statesman, a technocrat, a lover of culture and, above all, a man of deep conviction.
“While giving the exhortation, I was listening to Baba Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu and he said in 1983, Baba became Governor of Oyo State. Though his time in office was brief, his election victory over a popular incumbent remains a powerful testament to the trust people gave him.
“I talked about preserving and digitising his library yesterday [Wednesday] as a mark of honour to Baba Olunloyo.
“Today, we will be giving Baba another honour to immortalise him. He was the first Principal of The Polytechnic, Ibadan; that institution will now be named Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan.”
Earlier in his sermon, a retired Methodist Archbishop of Ilesa and Ibadan, Ayo Ladigbolu, described the late Olunloyo as a role model with intellectual inspiration and unassailable integrity.
The cleric said the deceased also demonstrated leadership in most superior quality during his lifetime.
In attendance were the state Deputy Governor, Chief Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal; wife of a former Military Governor of the old Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Dupe Jemibewon; wife of a former Governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Mutiat Ladoja; former Deputy Governor and PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; and former Deputy Governor, Hazeem Gbolarumi.
Others were the member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, Hon Abass Adigun Agboworin; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; Oyo State Exco members; Chairman of Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr Saka Balogun; Chairman of All Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State, Hon Sikiru Sanda; President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Adeniyi Ajewole; religious leaders and family members, among other dignitaries.
Ten members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) have countered the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, on the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary.
The dissenting members, led by the Deputy National Chairman ( South), Taofeek Arapaja, in a joint statement, said no organ of the opposition party could overturn the decision of the 99th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The dissenting NWC members include Arapaja; Setonji Koshoedo, Deputy National Secretary; Okechukwu Obiechina-Daniel, National Auditor; Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary; Ologunagba; Woyengikuro Daniel, National Financial Secretary and Ahmed Yayari Mohammed, National Treasurer.
Others are Chief Ali Odefa, National Vice Chairman (South East); Emmanuel Ogidi, Caretaker Committee Chairman (South South); Mrs. Amina Darasimi D. Bryhm, National Woman Leader and Ajisafe Kamoru Toyese, National Vice Chairman (South West).
The group also insisted that contrary to the position of the acting National Chairman, the 100th NEC meeting of the party would be held on June 30 as earlier scheduled.
The statement read: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press briefing by the acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, today Wednesday, June 25, wherein he attempted to overturn the resolution of the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which scheduled the 100th NEC meeting for Monday, June 30.
“The acting National Chairman in the said press briefing also reportedly announced that Senator Samuel Anyanwu has been asked to resume as National Secretary of the party contrary to the resolution of the 99th NEC meeting, which referred all matters relating to the office of the National Secretary to the 100th NEC meeting.
“The pronouncements by the acting National Chairman have no foundation as no organ of the party (including the NWC), individual or group has the power to cancel, overrule, veto or vary the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the party, second only to the National Convention. By virtue of Section 31 (3) of the PDP Constitution, the resolution of the NEC to hold its 100th meeting on Monday June 30, is binding on all organs, officers, chapters and members of the party and no organ, group or individual can vary or veto this resolution of NEC.
“Furthermore, the claim by Damagum that Sen Anyanwu has been asked to resume office as the National Secretary of the party is, therefore, misleading being contrary to the resolution of NEC.
“In the light of the foregoing, the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled for Monday, June 30, has not been canceled or postponed.”
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has fired back at former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following the latter’s scathing criticism of President Tinubu’s administration and his 2027 re-election prospects.
In an interview on live television, Mallam El-Rufai said it would take a “miracle” for President Tinubu to be re-elected in 2027, citing an internal poll that purportedly shows a 91 percent disapproval rating for the president across key regions in the country, including the South-East and the North. He also claimed that President Tinubu’s disapproval rating in Lagos stood at 78 percent.
Reacting on Wednesday via a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Onanuga took a swipe at the ex-governor, quoting a harsh assessment of Mallam El-Rufai’s character from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological,” Mr Onanuga wrote, citing Chief Obasanjo’s words. “Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai.”
The presidential adviser emphasised Chief Obasanjo’s remarks that Mallam El-Rufai often tries to elevate himself by diminishing others. “He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends,” Mr Onanuga continued, quoting the former President. “I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.”
Chief Obasanjo, who appointed Mallam El-Rufai as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory between 2003 and 2007, did not mince words in the memoir, describing Mallam El-Rufai as suffering from “small man syndrome.”
Mr Onanuga’s post is seen as a direct rebuttal to Mallam El-Rufai’s recent criticism and growing opposition role. The former governor is reportedly playing a central role in forming a new coalition to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
In March 2025, El-Rufai officially dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), intensifying speculations about his 2027 political ambitions.
As the political rift deepens, Mallam El-Rufai remains one of the most vocal critics of the Tinubu administration, while Mr Onanuga and other presidential allies continue to push back against what they describe as “reckless” opposition rhetoric.